In discussing her motivations for moving into independent living, Maggie says, “It was time to look for something more secure – there’s the safety element as you get older and you are less mobile. I looked at a number of places: I wanted light; I wanted a garden space that I didn’t have to take sole care of, but that I could be a part of; and I wanted a community with facilities that I could use as I got older.

“When you live in a couple, you must accept that there is always the possibility that one partner may die. If the other person is in situ in a pleasant environment that is fulfilling, it helps to know that they can go on to have a good life,” Maggie adds.

“We have a lot of single women where we live; there’s bereavement and divorce, and all sorts of reasons why people move into these places. It’s better to think about it earlier than end up breaking your hip and requiring higher care and your partner having to choose to live somewhere else.”

“It took a lot of decluttering,” Maggie continues. “Trying to get rid of a lot of things ethically is very difficult. And the memories make those choices very difficult. But I cant believe how seamlessly I have moved into this place.”

“Home means many things to different people in different ways, but fundamentally, we all share common values and what we aspire to when we think of our own homes,” says Ana. “First and foremost, we look at safety and containment, the quality of the space, aspiration for light and ventilation, and careful spatial planning. 

“When I think about how we apply that to independent living, I see an opportunity to elevate those basic principles.” 

Ana and Tim, who worked together on the masterplan for VMCH’s St. Clare retirement living precinct in Studley Park, discussed the significance of designing an independent living facility during COVID-19 – an event that necessitated spending an unprecedented amount of time in our homes – and how that phenomenon added a layer of understanding in designing for a population with greater mobility needs.

“It really drilled home the importance of home,” says Ana. “Our households and our gardens became more significant spaces than ever before.”

Tim shared the value of gardens in later life and explained the integral role of landscape in the design of the St. Clare masterplan.

“One of the conversations we had when we were conceiving of the design was, what do people give up when they move into a place like this?” says Tim. “And one of the common themes was their garden. So, it was about designing a series of garden spaces that had all the benefits of a residential garden without the difficulty of maintaining them.”

The conversation also explored the role of technology in transforming the home for other people. Miguel argued that, while technology has been proffered as a solution to address deficits in care, it doesn’t come without complications.

“The ageing technology industry envisions the future of the home for the older adult as surrounded by a lot of data-hungry technology that will see the body as a place to leverage, to surveille, and to ostensibly provide care,” says Miguel. “But that’s problematic, because it assumes that older people are only frail, only ageing, only bodies.” 

Miguel argues that industry’s attempts to metrify what older people do in their homes only assumes that older people are a risk – to themselves and to the taxpayer – and that is very problematic.

“In reality, older people are likely to have free time to be involved in community projects that matter, that are often more valuable than corporate jobs,” says Miguel. “They also have time to do something meaningful in life, to child-mind, or even to provide housing for younger generations.”

Miguel says that while technology can provide better human connectivity, especially for older people with family overseas, it should not replace the role of human care.

The panel discussed the importance of good design in preventing age segregation, mitigating social isolation and maintaining connectivity with the wider community

“On St. Claire, we worked super hard to create a clear masterplan with a clear axis, with degrees of privacy that ranged from the public heritage building and cafe for residents and the wider community – to semipublic spaces, like a library, a gym, a lounge – and then the private buildings,” says Ana. “It’s the autonomy to choose when you want to connect and when you want to retreat. And that applies to everybody at all life stages.”

“Those incidental moments are really important, especially for residents who do not wish to participate in organised activities,” adds Tim. “Being drawn out of your room for a reason – going for a walk to the nearby cafe, checking on the veggies in productive garden, or picking up your mail – are all important parts of being part of a community.”

“We fought hard to have the productive garden located outside the secure boundary of the precinct, so that the development can interface with the wider neighbourhood,” Tim continues. “The tendency for these masterplanned communities can be to segregate all the activities, but having the blurred edges means you have these incidental interactions and intersection of uses – that’s where the magic happens.”

Tim discussed the philosophical potential of gardens, both to provide the space for hosting difficult conversations, but also for helping people to transition through difficult life stages.

“Connection with nature and gardens can help to bring people to terms with their own mortality,” says Tim. “Seeing the decay and the regeneration of plants in gardens is a gentle way of starting to think about death.

“Gardens also create spaces to have difficult conversations. Sitting face-to-face from a bed can be a very confronting time to have those talks, but if you can walk outside, sit in a garden and watch some water or some grasses moving in the breeze, it makes those conversations much easier.

“We brought that into the St. Clare masterplan by having little nooks with varying degrees of privacy – some very discrete, without sacrificing safety. We leveraged those ideas of prospect and refuge, so you feel contained and safe, but you can still see out.”